Carroll, Sydney Joseph
No.5686 – Private Sydney Carroll – 16th Battalion AIF
Sydney Carroll was born in Fremantle Western Australia in 1892 to John & Elizabeth Carroll. His parents had married in Northampton in 1875 and he was one of several children James Patrick (born 1875); William (born 1877), Laura Francis Carroll (born 1885), Elizabeth May Carroll (born 1888); Simon Victor Carroll (born 1895); Percy Jubilee Carroll (born 1897); Leslie Howard Carroll (born 1899) & Ivy Annie Carroll (born 1901).
Sydney grew up in Fremantle and was educated at the local primary school. His father John died on the 25th April 1901 when he was only nine years old and his mother Elizabeth died four years later on the 23rd September 1905. His parents were buried in Fremantle Cemetery plot RC 0235 & 0236 respectively.
With both parents deceased, Sydney initially moved in with his elder brother William who live in Attfield Lane off Scott Street South Fremantle. However when he started working as a labourer; he boarded with the Daly family who resided at 16 Walker Street South Fremantle. He must have become quite attached to Amelia Daly as he named her his next of kin when he enlisted into the AIF.
On the 21st January 1916 aged 24, Sydney went to the Fremantle recruitment office and offered his services to the AIF. The medical examiner found Sydney to be 5 feet 11 inches in height; weight of 136 lbs; chest measurement of 34-36 inches; fresh complexion; light blue eyes and dark brown hair. His religious denomination was Roman Catholic.
Sydney was initially allotted to No.50 Depot and on the 4th April 1916 was attached to the 18th Reinforcements to the 16th Battalion AIF. This reinforcement group trained in Western Australia until the 18th July 1916 when they embarked from Fremantle aboard the Transport ship H.M.A.T. “Seang Choon”.
On the 10th September 1916 Sydney arrived in England and was sent to the 4th Training Battalion on the Salisbury Plains. He was only there a few weeks however as on the 30th September 1916 he was included in a draft of men to be sent to France. Arriving at Etaples, Sydney went to the 4th Australian Division Base Depot for two weeks of further training. He was officially taken on strength of the 16th battalion on the 17th October 1916.
The 16th Battalion would spend the next few freezing winter months on the Somme on a muddy, devastated battlefield. During the French winter one notable event for the 16th was in February 1917 & their assistance to the 13th Battalion to capture Stormy Trench. In late February the Germans started to slowly withdraw from the Somme battlefield to a pre built defensive line which was called the Hindenburg Line. The Germans however did not let the Australians and British easily retake the French villages and hotly contested any advances. By early April the Australians were coming in site of the impressive Hindenburg Line.
It was hoped to capture the position quickly and the 4th Division were brought up to attempt that task. After the attack was cancelled on April 10th, it was rescheduled for April 11th. Instead of being supported by artillery they troops would only have a handful of tanks to support them. As the men advanced on the German line a hail of bullets and shells swept the men away but those remaining amazingly made a breach in the line and held two lines of German trenches. But without artillery support, and running out of ammunition and men, the survivors had to withdraw across the bullet swept ground.
Unfortunately, sometime during the battle Sydney was killed and so far no eyewitness reports have been located regarding his death. After the war his body was not located and presumably was somewhere in the Hindenburg Line, perhaps buried by the Germans in an unmarked grave.
As Sydney’s burial place is not known he is commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial. His brother, James Patrick Carroll had served in the 2nd Pioneer Battalion in the war though returned home wounded.
Sydney’s elder brother William put the following in the paper;
“In loving memory of our dear brother and brother in law and uncle, Sydney Charles Carroll of the 16th Battalion killed at Bullecourt April 11th 1917.
We think of him in silence,
His name we often recall,
But there is nothing left to answer
But his dear photo on the wall.
Inserted by his loving brothers and sister-in-law William and Lavinia and Victor and James (returned from active service) and only nieces Lizzie and Bertha and Chrissie”
“In loving memory of my dear brother, Private Sydney Charles Carroll of the 18th reinforcements 16th Battalion who gave his life on April 11th 1917
He rose responsive to his country’s call
He gave for her his best, his life, his all,
As he stood, a man, a hero, he fell,
His duty nobly done
Inserted by his loving brother Percy and friend Daisy
Unfortunately Sydney wasn’t the only one of the Carroll children to die young. His sister Laura had died in 1903 aged 17 and is buried with her father in Fremantle Cemetery. Simon Victor Carroll died in South Fremantle on the 26th May 1918 aged just 23. He is buried with his mother in Fremantle Cemetery. Leslie Howard Carroll[1] died on the 7th September 1924 aged just 25 and was buried in Karrakatta Cemetery Plot RC DA 0329.
The eldest brother William Carroll died on the 26th February 1927 aged 49 and is buried in Fremantle Cemetery RC.CC.1347. His wife Lavinia lived for a while longer, dying on the 16th January 1953 and is buried with her husband. They had three children, Elizabeth Catherine born in 1902[2], Bertha and Christina born in 1908[3]
Percy Carroll survived till he was 69, dying on the 7th June 1965 and is buried in Karrakatta Cemetery RC OA 0570. His wife Daisy Carroll lived until she was 94, dying on the 12th February 1991.
Of his sisters, Elizabeth Carroll married James Trainor in 1913 and Ivy Carroll[4] married James Carle in 1928